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Atlas / NTSB / LAX76FUM16

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event LAX76FUM16

1975-12-16 SAN DIEGO, California, United States None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N57U

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

HILLER UH-12A

TCDS

6H1 · SIAM HILLER HOLDINGS INC

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19630713

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A74DD2

Registrant of record

PATTEN JEFFERY D

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Historical record (pre-1982)

NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.

Aircraft

HILLER ACFT UH-12B · N57U

Damage

Substantial

Craft type

Balloon

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

Takeoff — initial climb (C1)

Operator type

Personal/private

Airport

GOLDEN STATE HELO

Kind of flying

DD

Weather at impact

Sky

CLEAR

Temp

33° F

Aircraft history

Serial number

000000000286

Total time

1,099 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Commercial

Total hours

760

Age

28

Investigator remarks

CLUTCH FAILED.

Cause factors

  • 78/C/BJ C
    ROTORCRAFT CLUTCH ASSEMBLY Cause
  • 88/C/BQ C
    MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS EXCESSIVE-WEAR/PLAY Cause
  • 68/C/D4 C
    PERSONNEL INADEQUATE INSPECTION OF AIRCRAFT (MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL) Cause
  • 83/K/A K
    TERRAIN WET,SOFT GROUND Joint factor

Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.

Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket 3 3723. Source file NTSB_1975_3_3723.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.